Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 5, 2025 · Last updated: November 7, 2026

1. Who We Are

Soro is a live, small-group Yorùbá conversation programme for heritage-speaking adults, operated by Soro Africa Limited, a company registered in Nigeria (Company Registration No. 9597096), based in Lagos, Nigeria ("Soro," "we," "us," or "our").

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal data when you visit sorobiyoruba.com, enrol in a class, or otherwise interact with our services (the "Service"). It is written to comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 ("NDPA")and the regulations of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission ("NDPC").

The Service includes Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀, our free voice-note app, where members share a profile and send each other voice notes. Section 13 explains in detail who can see and hear what.

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information as described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Information We Collect

a) Information you give us directly

• Full name, email address, and phone/WhatsApp number, collected when you sign up or enrol
• Yorùbá proficiency level or learning goals, if you share them during onboarding
• Payment-related details necessary to process your subscription (see Section 4; we do not store your card details ourselves)
• Any messages you send us (e.g. support requests, feedback, WhatsApp conversations)
• Messages, photos, and voice notes you post in your class chat, and the written answers, recordings, photos, or files you submit for assignments
• Your confirmation that you are 18 or over (and when you gave it), and your time zone
• For Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀: your first name, your Yorùbá level, a short hello recorded in your own voice, and, if you choose, your city or country, why you are learning, the times you like to talk, and your gender (which is kept private and used only as a filter). Also the voice notes you send to buddies and in rooms

b) Information collected automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, class bookings, attendance records, credit balance and consumption history
• In Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀: who you have matched with, which days you sent a voice note (for streaks), and any reports or blocks you make, or that are made about you
• Device and browser information, IP address, and basic analytics (via cookies; see Section 8)
• Audio/video recordings of your class sessions, which we make for quality assurance and training purposes

c) Information from third parties

• Payment confirmation data from our payment processor, Paystack
• Where applicable, calendar/booking confirmations if you connect a calendar to schedule classes

We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. Soro is intended for adult learners only.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your data to:

• Create and manage your account, plan, and credit balance
• Schedule you into an Ẹgbẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ (learning group) and share necessary details with your assigned Atọ́nísọ̀nà (guide) so classes can run
• Process payments and send receipts
• Run Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀: show your profile to other members, match you with buddies, keep your streak, and send you notifications about hellos and voice notes if you leave them switched on
• Review reports and keep Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ safe, including hearing a voice note that has been reported
• Send class reminders, scheduling updates, and service communications by email, by browser notification if you switch them on, and/or by WhatsApp
• Monitor and improve the quality of our classes and platform, including studying anonymised archived recordings and photos (see Section 7)
• Respond to your questions and support requests
• Meet our legal and regulatory obligations

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the NDPA, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract: to deliver the classes and features you've signed up for
• Consent: for optional communications such as marketing updates (you may withdraw this at any time)
• Consent to your voice recordings: when you record a hello or a voice note and share it, you consent to us storing it and to other members hearing it as described in Section 13. A voice recording, and what you say in it, can reveal personal information, including information about your beliefs or views. You decide what to say. You can withdraw your consent at any time by deleting your account
• Legitimate interest: to improve our Service and keep it secure
• Legal obligation: where required by Nigerian law (e.g. tax and financial record-keeping)

5. Who We Share Your Information With

We do not sell your personal data. We share limited data with trusted service providers who help us run Soro, including:

Each of these providers is contractually or by design restricted to using your data only to provide their service to us.

Class chat: Communication for your Ẹgbẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ (learning group) takes place in a class chat inside your Soro account. Your first name, and anything you post, is visible to your Atọ́nísọ̀nà (guide), the other learners in your group, and the Soro team. Your phone number and email address are not shown in the chat. You lose access to the chat when you no longer hold a place in the group.

Browser notifications:If you press "Turn on notifications" in your account, we store a technical address for that browser or phone so we can send you a short alert about new chat messages and assignments. You can turn this off at any time from the same page, and we delete the address when you do.

6. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers (including our database host, Supabase) may store or process data on servers located outside Nigeria. Where this happens, we take steps to ensure your data receives a comparable level of protection to that required under the NDPA, including relying on providers with recognised security and data protection standards. Members of Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ live in many countries, so the profile and voice notes you share may be heard by members elsewhere in the world.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active, and for a reasonable period afterward to meet legal, accounting, or dispute-resolution needs. You may delete your account yourself at any time from your account settings, or ask us to (see Section 9). Some records must be kept: we keep your past payments and the referral ledger, without your name, because the law and our accounts require it.

Photos, voice notes, and files move out of everyday use on a fixed schedule:

• Photos and voice notes sent in the class chat are removed from the chat 10 days after they are sent. The written message stays.
• Voice notes sent in Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ buddy chats and rooms are removed from the app 60 days after they are sent. Your profile hello stays until you change it or delete your account.
• Recordings, photos, and files you submit for an assignment, and recorded feedback from your guide, are removed from your account 12 months after the assignment's due date. Written answers and written feedback stay until you ask us to delete your account data.

The research archive. When a photo, voice note, or recording is removed in this way, we do not simply delete it. We move a copy to a private archive (held with our storage provider, Cloudflare) so that we can study how our learners speak and learn, improve our classes and materials, and check the quality of our teaching. In the archive, files are stored under an anonymous code. Your name, email address, and account details are not kept with them, although we do record your self-reported Yorùbá level, the type of class, and the date. The archive is accessible only to the Soro team, and is not sold, shared publicly, or used to build products for others. If you delete a class chat message yourself, its photo or voice note is deleted straight away and is not archived. If you delete your account, the archived copies of your Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ voice notes are deleted too. You may ask us to delete your archived files at any time (see Section 9); because they carry no name, we may ask you for the approximate date and kind of file so we can find them.

8. Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to keep you logged in, remember preferences, and understand how visitors use the site. We also use third-party analytics and advertising tools that set their own cookies and collect usage data on our behalf, including Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, the Meta (Facebook) Pixel, and PostHog. These help us measure how the site and our marketing perform and improve the experience. Some of these providers may process your data outside Nigeria. You can control or block cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect site functionality.

9. Your Rights

Under the NDPA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to legal limits
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format
• Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent
• Lodge a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC)

You can delete your account yourself from your account settings. To exercise any of the other rights, contact us at speak -at- sorobiyoruba.com.

10. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures (including encrypted storage and access controls) to protect your data against unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. No system is completely secure, and we encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your account.

11. Children's Privacy

Soro is designed for adult learners, and you confirm that you are 18 or over when you create an account. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.

12. Referral Program

If you sign up as a referrer, we collect your name, email, and phone number to create your referral account and generate your personal referral code and link. We also record who signs up using your code or link, and the commissions this earns you, so we can maintain your referral wallet balance.

If you request a cash withdrawal from your referral wallet, we additionally collect your bank account name, account number, and bank name. This information is used solely to process your payout and is not shared with any third party beyond what is needed to complete the bank transfer.

13. Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀: your profile, voice notes and who can hear them

Who can see and hear what

• Your profile. Other signed-in members who browse can see your first name, level, city or country, why you are learning, and when you like to talk, and can play your recorded hello. They cannot see your email address, phone number or gender.
• Buddy chats. Only you and your buddy can hear the voice notes in your chat. Soro does not listen to them as a matter of course.
• Rooms. Every signed-in member who opens a room can hear what is said in it, with your level shown beside it.
• Reports. When a voice note is reported, members of the Soro team can hear it so that they can decide what to do. A note that has been reported enough times is hidden from other members until we have looked at it.
• Guides. A guide who takes part is an ordinary member. A guide cannot see how their own learners use Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀: not their buddies, their streaks or their voice notes.
• Blocking. If you block someone, you and they no longer see each other, and any chat between you closes.

How long we keep it, and deleting it

• Voice notes leave your chats and rooms after 60 days, and a copy moves to our private archive under an anonymous code, as described in Section 7.
• When you delete your account, your Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ profile, hello, matches, blocks and streak days are removed, and so are the archived copies of your Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ voice notes.
• The deletion screen also asks whether to delete your chat messages and voice notes. If you tick it, your voice notes and class chat messages are removed from other members' chats too. If you do not, they stay and are shown as "Deleted account".
• A report about a voice note, and what we decided, may be kept for as long as we need it to keep Ọ̀rẹ́ Sọ̀rọ̀ safe.

Notifications

If you turn on notifications, we send short alerts about hellos, matches and voice notes. You can switch Buddy and Room notifications off separately from class notifications in your settings.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page with a revised "Last updated" date, and where changes are significant, we will notify you directly.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data:

Soro Africa Limited
Lagos, Nigeria
Email: speak -at- sorobiyoruba.com